


Soldier

by scarlett_darke



Series: Malec One-Shots [3]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Fluff, How Do I Tag, I'm probably doing this wrong, M/M, Magnus doesn't really show up until the end, Mundane Profiler, She tries to profile Alec and totally gets it wrong, Sorry Not Sorry, Victoria Reed, alec lightwood - Freeform, but its sweet, just a little bit, magnus bane - Freeform, outsider pov
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:08:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25272952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scarlett_darke/pseuds/scarlett_darke
Summary: Victoria Reed is a profiler for the police.  She likes to think she's pretty accurate at reading, until on the bus ride home and she tries to profile a man covered in tattoos, assuming he's a criminal or part of a gang.  But after a brief conversation and a bit of eavesdropping, learns that sometimes, everything is not as it seems.
Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Series: Malec One-Shots [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1688488
Comments: 6
Kudos: 211





	Soldier

**Author's Note:**

> Hi again! Its been a while since the last post, I'm sorry, I just got into my degree, so I'm rushing around trying to get things ready for classes that start next week. Let me know if there are any edits that need to be made, I don't really edit, so please don't be afraid to tell me! 
> 
> My next works will probably be slower coming as school comes on. But thanks for reading.

Victoria Reed liked to think that she understood people well. As a police profiler, it was her job to read people and know who they were and what they did, to assist with cases, suspects, victims, and the officers themselves. Which is why when she boarded the bus on the way home from the precinct, she was immediately shocked and terrified at the person in the space, next to the only empty seat on the bus. 

He was wearing a black shirt and black jeans, with a black leather jacket with the sleeves rolled up, the word goth flitting through her head before she dismissed it. Despite wearing all black, he didn’t seem like the type to identify as such. Then, as he raised his head to look at her as she sat next to him, several details popped out at her. The first was the fact that he had a large tattoo on the left side of his neck, looking like a Z with a line through the center, followed by the numerous other black tattoos that covered his arms. 

Her profiling mind would have automatically labelled him as a gang member, especially after the fiasco where she saw another blond haired man with the same tattoos and two different colored eyes in an alley holding what looked to be a sword, except for one crucial detail.

His eyes.

This man had a look in his eyes that looked like what soldiers had when they returned from war. Whoever this man was, he had seen death, horror, and war, and walked out different. 

The man smiled at her, and shifted so she had enough space, and her thoughts changed. This man may be a soldier. He’s probably lived through violence and death, and still came home, loving and kind. Taking note of his ring on his left finger, she assumed that his wife also had helped him return to civilian life.

She returned his smile, settling her bag down at her feet and paused, wondering if she should ask. 

“Iraq? Or Afghanistan?”

“Huh?” The man looked confused at her statement.

“You were in the military right? Did you serve in Iraq or Afghanistan?”

The man’s eyes cleared in understanding.

“Neither I work private military.”

Victoria blinked. So, still military, but not quite the common military.

“Oh, sorry.”

The man smiled again, and it was a radiant smile that threw her off her balance. _God he’s handsome_ she thought. It was a shame that he was married.

“Better working days for you wife?”

The man scowled and she immediately realized what must have made him so intimidating in the military.

“Husband, actually, and he works with me, so.”

Victoria recoiled.

“I’m sorry, I just assumed… never mind.”

They went back to sitting in silence for the next few stops, until he nudged her again when they were close to Brooklyn. 

“Hey, its ok, I get the assumption, would you mind? This is my stop.”

She stood, allowing him out of the seat and into the aisle, before following him off the bus. As she stepped off the bus, she noticed him stepping into the arms of another man waiting for him. She blinked in surprise. She would not have expected him to be the husband of the man on the bus. 

The man who was the tattooed man’s husband wore eccentric fashionable clothing, clearly of well-known brand names. He wore makeup and had styled his hair up with streaks of red, matching his outfit, and he was of Asian descent. 

“Hey Magnus.” The man who sat next to her on the bus murmured. 

Victoria took a seat on the bench nearby to wait for her next bus, and if it was also to eavesdrop, then no one needed to know.

“Rough day Alexander?” Magnus replied.

Alexander scowled.

“Jace, Izzy and Clary got themselves into another mess today. ‘Alec, come with us, fix this mistake we made, but don’t want to clean up.’” Alexan-Alec replied. 

Magnus laughed.

“Sounds like normal. Come on darling, lets go home. You can take care of your sibling’s and their significant other’s messes tomorrow.”

The two men walked off, and Victoria smiled. Sometimes, being a profiler was making assumptions about a person, and finding out that they are the total opposite of what you thought. And that was the best part of her job, those who completely defied the logic of who they are supposed to be, versus those who know who they are. It’s a lesson anyone can learn from. No one is as they seem. 


End file.
